by Laura Garber
Los Angeles Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker, alongside his new charitable foundation Wholeheartedly Club, visited Hermosa Valley School on Monday, Dec. 15, to hear students’ “Shark Tank”-style pitches for community project ideas.
The “Kickoff and Pitch” event marked the foundation’s nationwide launch in partnership with Hermosa Beach City School District.
The football star, known affectionately as “Dicker the Kicker,” launched Wholeheartedly Club earlier this year to encourage students in fifth through 12th grade to participate in service projects that will improve Hermosa Beach and South Bay communities.
“I think it’s important to let kids decide what they want to do,” Dicker said. “It gives them an opportunity to showcase what’s meaningful in their life. It’s really touching and powerful to see the big impacts they want to make in their community.”
Thirteen projects were presented to Dicker and his foundation. Ideas ranged from building sensory playboards in therapy offices for special needs students to a creativity club for kids to express themselves and a clothing drive with fashion-forward clothing for middle schoolers.
One proposal, a “Sports Discovery Camp,” would give children opportunities to explore a variety of sports and discover what they enjoy.
Hermosa Valley 8th grade students Madison and Blake developed the idea because they both love sports.
“We both worked with kids. We both love sports. We knew we definitely wanted to do something with sports,” Madison said.
Blake, a Chargers super fan, was especially excited to present their idea to Dicker.
Local foundations were at the event to engage with students on more volunteering opportunities, including the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, Friendship Foundation, South Bay Parkland Conservancy, Hermosa Beach Sister City Association/Loreto, allcove Beach Cities, American Red Cross, Inclusion Matters, and St. Francis Center.
Since moving to Manhattan Beach, Dicker has focused on getting involved with local nonprofit organizations.
Dené Slaton, the school clubs manager for Friendship Foundation, says Dicker reached out to the organization to volunteer for several events.
“He has built genuine friendships and relationships with our participants,” Slaton said. “We had our Friendsgiving and you look over, and he’s outside playing football with the kids.”
Dicker was born in Hong Kong and raised in Shanghai, China, to expat parents before moving to Texas in sixth grade.
“It was different because you leave your friends from across the world,” Dicker said. “You come to a completely new place, so finding a sense of community was really weird and hard at first.”
Dicker said he didn’t get to experience community volunteering until college.
“Being able to see the impact it made on my life, how it brought me closer to God and then brought me closer to people in my community,” Dicker said.
Dicker signed with the Chargers in 2022 and was named the most accurate kicker in NFL history this year with 94.0% accuracy. The Chargers nominated Dicker for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, given by the National Football League in recognition of a player’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact.
All 13 student project ideas received funding and will work with Wholeheartedly to further develop their community initiatives.
“A lot of our world talks about, ‘what can you do for yourself and how you can make yourself better,’” Dicker told the students at the event. “And I don’t think that’s kind of the message that we should be telling kids. It’s what you can do for other people, and that’s going to change how you live your life.” ER
